International Hip-Hop Artist and Humanitarian Emmanuel Jal to Perform Free Live Concert at SMU

April 6th concert helps kick off opening of Dallas’ 2013 Engineering & Humanity Week
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March 19, 2013 - PRLog -- Dallas, TX—Emmanuel Jal, the internationally known hip-hop artist who has played for both Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama, will perform in a free live concert at SMU on Saturday, April 6th as part of the opening festivities for Dallas’ 3rd annual global conference, Engineering & Humanity Week.

The free live performance by Jal will take place at the north end of SMU Boulevard on the Southern Methodist University campus at 4:30 p.m. on April 6, part of the Barefoot on the Boulevard music and earth celebration.

Later that evening, Jal will perform at the 2013 E&H Week Visionary and Humanitarian Awards Dinner at Centennial Hall at Fair Park. Jal will receive the inaugural 2013 E&H Week Humanitarian Award at the event (tickets and sponsorships may be purchased), all part of Engineering & Humanity Week, April 6-12, at Fair Park and at SMU.  The award includes a financial gift of $25,000, which will facilitate the completion of Jal’s Emma Academy in Southern Sudan, which honors the woman who saved him from his life as a child soldier.

Many E&H Week activities are free and open to the public.  Complete information is available at EandHWeek.org.

E&H Week is a global forum bringing together the general public and world humanitarian leaders in an effort to share information to help meet the challenges of the developing world.

With the theme “Water: The Ripple Effects,” the 2013 E&H Week will focus on the challenge of water supply, access and distribution in developing countries. About 1.1 billion people worldwide lack adequate access to water. About 1.8 million children die each year due to lack of clean water and poor sanitation.

About Emmanuel Jal

At the age of 7, following the death of his mother, he was recruited as a child soldier in the civil war that racked Southern Sudan. At age 11, fed up by the killing and dying he faced on a daily basis, he escaped the front lines and embarked on a three-month journey to safety and, eventually, to the warm embrace of a British aid worker who smuggled him to Kenya and enrolled him in school for the first time.

Once a “lost boy” of the Sudan, Emmanuel Jal today has found a new life as one of the world’s leading hip-hop recording artists, an author and an advocate for children in developing nations whose childhoods are robbed from them because of violence and extreme poverty.

His inspiring life story, documented in the 2008 film War Child and an autobiography under the same name released in 2009, have provided Jal a world-wide platform that he uses tirelessly to tell his story, perform his art and generate means to campaign against the employment of child soldiers, the illegal trade of arms and genocide. He sees hip-hop as a vehicle to convey an authentic message to youth everywhere.

Through his non-profit, Gua Africa, and We Want Peace campaign, Jal has reached audiences totaling in the millions. Besides building schools, his charities provide scholarships for Sudanese war survivors in refugee camps and sponsors education for children in the most deprived slum areas in Nairobi.

With four studio albums in circulation—Jal performed for Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday celebration and the One World Concert for the Dalai Lama—his music is heard worldwide. A passionate advocate for children everywhere, Jal continues to work with the United Nations, Amnesty International and Oxfam to campaign for peace and justice. He has taken his global campaign for peace before the U.N. Security Council, the G20 major economies and TEDGlobal Conference.

For these and other efforts, The Hunt Institute is presenting the inaugural Humanitarian Award to Emmanuel Jal, whose life is a testimony to the power of one person to positively create a ripple effect for the benefit of all humanity.

View previous concerts featuring Emmanuel Jal:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7vdyT5TH0g  What would I be if Emma never rescued me?



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1ZEJWVSiEI  We want peace with Alicia Keys

Engineering & Humanity Week is sponsored by Hunter and Stephanie Hunt, Southern Methodist University's Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity in the Lyle School of Engineering and the University of Oxford's Refugee Studies Center.

About Engineering & Humanity Week (E&H Week)

E&H Week brings leaders together from across the globe -- and from many walks of life -- to explore opportunities to help less fortunate populations by providing in-depth exposure to global economics, cultural awareness, collaborative leadership, and principles of sustainability. The annual event focuses on topics in which engineering can be used to help improve the lives of refugees and other displaced and struggling members of humanity.

http://www.eandhweek.org

About the Hunt Institute

The SMU Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity at the Lyle School of Engineering strives to change the standard of living for the world's poorest populations, including those in the United States. The institute is helping to train a new generation of engineers in modern engineering applications—along with providing a deep exposure to global economics, cultural awareness, collaborative leadership and principles of sustainability.

http://www.smu.edu/Lyle/HuntInstitute

About University of Oxford’s Refugee Studies Center (RSC)

RSC is part of the Oxford Department of International Development (Queen Elizabeth House) at the University of Oxford. Its purpose is to build knowledge and understanding of the causes and effects of forced migration in order to help improve the lives of some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk

About The Return on Innovation Project (ROi)

ROi is an active network of innovators, partnering with communities around the world to inspire sustainable solutions. Our partners include the University of Oxford, UNHCR (the United Nation’s Agency for Refugees), Southern Methodist University, and Paul Quinn College.

For further details, to attend the event or to request an interview, please contact:

Linda Mastaglio – 903.312.8651 – Linda@twi-pr.com

Alternate Contacts:

Tracy O’Day – 206.932.1468 – tracy@tracyoday.com

Kim Cobb – 214-336-2290 cobbk@mail.smu.edu
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